SCRATCH MY BACK

It's sad that Peter Gabriel, one of my biggest long-time favourites of male singer-songwriters, hasn't released a single proper studio album with new material since Up (2002). Instead there have been various projects based on recycling old material. When this covers album came out -- what, already ten years ago! -- I borrowed the CD from the library, but it was hardly more than a curiosity to me. Years later I listened to, and even reviewed here, the latter half of the project, And I'll Scratch Yours (2013), in which the covered artists cover Peter Gabriel's songs. Although I didn't have a permanent interest for that one either, it was clearly the more interesting one of the two releases. Let's see how I respond to this music now on return.

The crucial reason for my initial disappointment on this release was (and is also now) the determined, unified style of performances, ie. the orchestral but rather introvert arrangements lacking rock instruments. In small doses that approach functions very well. To picture this, I have always preferred the ripped-down versions of 'Here Comes the Flood' over the overproduced 1977 album original. In the beginning of this album, DAVID BOWIE's 'Heroes' and PAUL SIMON's 'The Boy in the Bubble' have nice, calm versions.

The other reason for disappointment was (and is) that those songs I wasn't already familiar with, leave me mostly cold here. And they are a big majority. On the ELBOW song 'Mirrorball' the orchestra gets disturbingly noisy. I have never listened to BON IVER, but PG's version of 'Flume', as pretty as it might be, is just another slow-tempo performance for Peter Gabriel's voice, piano and orchestra. I wasn't familiar with the TALKING HEADS song 'Listening Wind', but its violin-centred version is nevertheless among the few highlights. LOU REED's 'The Power of the Heart': again, on small doses fairly enjoyable orchestral PG delicacy, but not on the long run. ARCADE FIRE and THE MAGNETIC FIELDS, other totally unfamiliar bands to me, other "so what" interpretetations in the exactly same manner. Boooooring.

PG's liner notes reveal that his original choice from RANDY NEWMAN was 'Baltimore' which I would have preferred over the much covered 'I Think It's Going to Rain Today'. The REGINA SPEKTOR song 'Aprés Moi' (in English, despite the French title) has another edgy arrangement which I'm not fond of. Especially the sharp brass instruments sound nasty to me, preventing me to concentrate on the song's essence. 'Philadelphia' sadly isn't among the bunch of NEIL YOUNG songs I know, but in any case I'm fed up with the brass-heavy arrangements at this point. The closing number, RADIOHEAD's 'Street Spirit (Fade Out)' is a good one in its moody delicacy that slightly reminds me of 'The Drop' from the Up album. But the whole is sonically too singular and monotonous to keep the listener interested.

Now that I think of it: can I name a single covers-only album recorded by an artist that I like, that has made a notable impression on me? Bowie's Pin-Ups? Songs from the Mirror by Fish? Tori Amos' Strange Little Girls? No, none of them much stirred me. Among covers albums, I just might have had the most positive feelings for the Finnish troubadour Matti Johannes Koivu's acoustic interpretations of songs by the bygone schlager singer Irwin Goodman -- for whom as the original performer I have no interest whatsoever! Also my namesake himself was a new acquaintance for me at the time. That may seem strange indeed that my long-time favourite artist loses to a black horse like that, but in the end it's all about expectations: on the Peter Gabriel scale, Scratch My Back is a massive disappointment.